Paradise “The Man Who Kept The Secrets”

Well, I wasn’t expecting that guy to be the killer.

Yes, the librarian did it.  He may have even had a good reason!  He just picked the wrong target!

See, this guy was not the actual librarian.  He was a manager on the project to build the city, got sacked when he pointed out there were dangerous substances that would need to be cleaned up a bit to protect his workers, and then listened to a lot of conspiracy theorists, figured out what was going on, and was even the guy who tried to shoot Cal but hit Xavier instead.  He just wanted Cal to tell the world what was happening.

OK, but, small problem:  Cal wasn’t responsible for the cover-up, and he did tell everyone and saved who-knows-how-many people by using an EMP instead of a nuclear strike to stop the nukes that were flying as the world was almost ending.  The villains here were the likes of Sinatra, Cal’s controlling father Kane, and my guess is the boardroom full of billionaires that the former Vice President is maybe in charge of now because Sinatra is in a hospital after her personal assassin Jane shot her for denying Jane access to the late President’s Wii.

Dude, Jane seems like she has a screw loose or something.  Let her have the freakin’ Wii.  It’s the least you can do for your hired gun.

The thing is, the librarian has a point about the billionaires running things.  Will Paradise go there in season two?  I’m doubtful mostly because a large media company is behind the show, and I don’t think they’re going to be letting a show like this get too radical in its politics.  Then again, one of the show’s strengths, even when it went into more cliched stories (like Billy’s death) is it created some deeper characters than a lot of shows like this would.  Cal seems like such a meathead when you first meet him, but he turns out to be someone who cares far more than the people who may be running the show would like.  Sinatra isn’t exactly a mustache-twirling villain given her backstory.  Xavier may be a straight-arrow good guy, but that didn’t stop him from having a one-night stand (emphasis on standing) with Dr. Torabi.  And Torabi?  Actually, I don’t really see what that character’s point is.

Eh, nothing’s perfect.

But what could work very well as a one-and-done mystery has some irons in the pot.  There’s still the other billionaires.  Jane is a wild card.  Xavier is off by plane to find his wife–nice reminder that Xavier’s father was a pilot–and from there, well, I was really satisfied with this one.  A second season would be very easy to screw up, so I hope they don’t.

As for now, I need a new show for Fridays.  You know, I heard Netflix’s One Piece was good.

If anything, it’ll be weird.  I generally like weird.